Yes, Maria V.'s half-sister is no longer footing the bill for Maria V. and Georgy Hohenzollern's ambitions; young Georgy needs to work these days. I agree, Al bina, it's unlikely that this work will be particularly taxing.

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__________________"Me, your Highness? On the whole, I wish I'd stayed in Tunbridge Wells"

Yes, Maria V.'s half-sister is no longer footing the bill for Maria V. and Georgy Hohenzollern's ambitions; young Georgy needs to work these days. I agree, Al bina, it's unlikely that this work will be particularly taxing.

Her sister was footing the bill for her (Maria's) and Georgey's aspirations?
Wow. I'd be a bit peeved myself.

Yes; Maria V's mother was married first to Sumner Moore Kirby, and the couple had a daughter, Helen. Helen inherited her father's wealth when he was declared dead, presumably at the hands of the Nazis. His wealth derived from the Woolworth retail chain, of which he was partner, and Leonida was his third wife, married from 1933-1937. He was murdered in 1945.

Helen, Leonida & Sumner's daughter, lived with Leonida in Madrid when Leonida met and married Vladimir in 1948 (in a Greek Orthodox, not Russian Orthodox, ceremony.) Maria was born in 1953, when her mother was 39 years of age. Helen was handed the title of Countess Dvinskaya and in return, her deceased father's fortune supported Leonida Bagration, Valdimir, Maria, and later Maria's husband and son. (Woolworth has been very, very good to Ms. Kirby.) Helen never married.

__________________"Me, your Highness? On the whole, I wish I'd stayed in Tunbridge Wells"

Thanks for the information! I am not too surprised to learn that Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirova and her family lived off somebody, a half-sister in this case. As for the title "Countess Dvinskaya", is it recongised by other nobles?

__________________"I never did mind about the little things"
Amanda, "Point of No Return"

Thanks for the information! I am not too surprised to learn that Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirova and her family lived off somebody, a half-sister in this case. As for the title "Countess Dvinskaya", is it recongised by other nobles?

I doubt it matters much. The title of Countess was granted to ladies-in-waiting during Imperial Russia, so it's not like Vladimir elevated her to imperial rank. It is simply a courtesy style.

Helen Kirby's fortune supported Vladimir and Leonida for many years, but is now said to be quite diminished. I'm not surprised Gregori has to work for a living as they sold their homes in Spain and France a number of years ago. Leonida still lives in her apartment in Paris, while Maria lives in an apartment in Madrid.

I became interested in this question after it was touched in another thread (and we were in real danger of going off topic yet again).

Let’s assume that Maria Vladimirovna’s claims are 100% foolproof and she’s the universally acknowledged Head of the Romanov House. In order to continue her legacy, her son will have to marry a member of a Reigning or Royal Family.

George is already 28 years old, the time of his marriage is rapidly approaching. And given the passion with which Maria Vladimirovna fights for her role as Head of the House, you can bet she’ll insist on an ‘equal’ marriage.
So I was wondering, just how many Princesses of eligible age are out there? I think we can safely exclude most, if not all, Reigning Houses, which leaves the Royal ones. Can we write a list of eligible ladies, marriage to whom would not be considered morganatic under all the Romanov marriage laws?

I fear we have to exclude the Catholic Princesses, because Catholic Church is usually unwilling in permitting a Princess to change her religion...
Well, I can list:
Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie of York;
Lady Gabriella Windsor;
Princess Theodora of Greece;
Duchess Anastasia and Duchess Alice of Oldenburg;
Princess Johanna of Waldeck.

I meant that there are so few eligible members of Reigning Royal Houses that we can focus mainly on non-reigning but Royal Houses (Greek, Yugoslavian, French, etc).
I’ll post the list of all (possibly) eligible members of the reigning Royal Houses in the next post.

Of the reigning Houses, I think we can safely exclude the following (who wouldn’t be even considered either because of religious or other aspects): Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Bhutan, Brunei, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Japan, Lesotho, Malaysia, Swaziland, Thailand, Tonga.

Prospective brides from the remaining Reigning Houses are the following (including Catholic women, because all of them, without exception, would have to convert to Orthodox religion in any case):

* Denotes those, who I am almost certain would not qualify under the Romanov marriage laws
** As members of Princely/Ducal Houses, they might not qualify as well, although as members of Reigning Houses, they might.

The only two Princesses who are definitely eligible are Princess Beatrice (born 1988) and Princess Eugenie (born 1990).

Princess Maria-Annunciata of Liechtenstein (born 1985), Princess Marie-Astrid of Liechtenstein (born 1987), Princess Alexandra of Luxembourg (born 1991), Princess Marie Gabriele of Nassau (born 1986) are all eligible if they qualify as members of Reigning Houses (although I think the Romanov marriage requirements specify members of a reigning or non-reigning []iRoyal[/i] Houses, which could disqualify them as members of Princely/Ducal Houses). Princess Nathalie of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (born 1975) might be eligible as well.

Well, also George's paternal grandmother was not of royal blood, but his father Franz Wilhelm was good to become the husband of Maria Wladimirovna...

well not quite, to my understanding george's paternal grandmother was none other than princess henriette of schoenaich carolatch and the step daughter of ex kaiser wilhelm II of germany to boot and not exactly a commoner and i believe that george's maternal grandmother was a princess also .......

Princess Maria-Annunciata of Liechtenstein (born 1985), Princess Marie-Astrid of Liechtenstein (born 1987), Princess Alexandra of Luxembourg (born 1991), Princess Marie Gabriele of Nassau (born 1986) are all eligible if they qualify as members of Reigning Houses (although I think the Romanov marriage requirements specify members of a reigning or non-reigning []iRoyal[/i] Houses, which could disqualify them as members of Princely/Ducal Houses). Princess Nathalie of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (born 1975) might be eligible as well.

I thought members of Grand Ducal houses were eligible? After all, two Tsarinas came from the Grand Ducal House of Hesse: Marie and Alix.

House of Leiningen
Princess Olga Margarita of Leiningen (born 1984)
Princess Cécilia of Leiningen (born 1988)
Princess Theresa Anna of Leiningen (born 1992)

House of Hohenzollern
Princess Viktoria Luise of Prussia (born 1982)
Princess Nataly of Prussia (born 1970)
Lady Mary Luise Wellesley (born 1986) and Lady Charlotte Anne Wellesley (born 1990) as children of Princess Antonia of Prussia (Marchioness of Douro) *
Princess Irina Maria Nina Kira of Prussia (born 1988)
Princess Philippa of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (born 1988)
Princess Flaminia Pia of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (born 1992)

House of Habsburg-Lorraine
(note: the list is almost definitely not complete, I'll add others later)
Archduchess Eleonore Jelena of Austria (born 1994)

... House of Thurn and Taxis
Princess Maria Theresia of Thurn and Taxis (born 1980)
Princess Elisabeth Margarethe of Thurn and Taxis (born 1982) ... [snipped]

The above ladies can be excluded from the list because they are very unlikely to renounce their faith (Roman Catholic). Additionally I do not think that eligible ladies from the British royal family will ever marry Grand Duke George. What will the advantages this union be for any of them?

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__________________"I never did mind about the little things"
Amanda, "Point of No Return"